This immersive workshop explores techniques that weave literary creativity into true stories. Ideal for anyone who writes narrative non-fiction, but the craft lessons apply as well to memoir and essays. Whether you are a news journalist, magazine freelancer, book author, travel writer, corporate communications specialist, blogger or weekend essayist, you will find the week both practical and inspirational.

Writing is not magic. But done with equal measures of discipline and passion, it can be magical.

We will explore the tools that all good writers master to transform a notion or assignment into a fresh, viable story idea, and then shape that idea into an elegant and compelling piece. We will probe universal themes that give meaning to facts, and examine structural approaches that give stories power and flow. We will place special emphasis on a story’s most essential elements: scene, character, emotion and revelatory detail.

The week will include a mix of fieldwork and in-class exercises to practice various techniques, shared reading and peer critiques and group discussions of great writing. Jacqui will offer techniques to help you diagnose your unique writing patterns, and meet with you one-on-one to coach to coach a story in progress or build a future writing plan.